SimonS

it just strikes me how much the world has changed in the short time since this comment was posted. (think agentic ai, robots etc)

TL;DR if you vote, you cannot complain. you wanted a master and you got one (George Carlin)

Karl Popper elaborated that the key benefit of democracy (voting) is the ability to get rid of a government without bloodshed.
There I’d agree. But I don’t feel anybody of the usual candidates is suitable to represent me in a government and I certainly have no intention to speak for others (i.e. run for office). So I abstain from voting and I make it clear that no government can claim to act in my name or on my behalf.
I do not endorse nor legitimize government action.
It needs to be stated clearly: “mandatory”, if it is to mean anything, means coerced. It means that if I prefer not to vote, you (or your agents) would need to put a gun to my head and make me vote.

TL;DR: if they could, they wouldn't need your money

If anybody was able to truly tell the future, they would be playing the betting markets (incl. the financial markets and the lottery) and sit quiet. Or they would be entrepreneurs, knowing exactly what will be in demand.
They might even be true philanthropes and really interested in helping people with their gift.
But if they have a stall at the fairgrounds and ask for your money, they likely are neither, and certainly not able to tell the future in any meaningful way.

TL; DR: I have no choice but to believe in free will.

I think the notion of free will, if not real, a clever psychological defence mechanism against insanity. If I was shown conclusively that there is no such thing as free will, I presume I would go bonkers. How would I make sense of human interaction, my own choices (let alone that of my wife), and the thought put into making a decision?